I want to welcome back faculty,
students, and staff as we begin the Spring 2004
semester. While this has been a difficult budgetary
year, I am excited about the potential for continuing
progress toward our institutional goals.
At the close of the fall semester, Governor Blagojevich
announced his support for the development of our
new riverfront Quad Cities campus. Just recently,
$200,000 was released by the governor so that we
can begin the architectural and engineering work
for the renovation of the former John Deere Technical
Center. We are very thankful for the governor’s
support and look forward to beginning this exciting
new venture.
We also know that the governor will soon make announcements
regarding economic development in the West Central
Illinois region.
We have provided information
on many of our key projects. We will also continue
to push to have the funds for Memorial Hall and
Performing Arts Center planning released during
the coming year and appreciate all of the support
we have received from the campus and local community.
We have also indicated a desire to partner with
local agencies, such as MAEDCO, to assist with economic
development in the region. We expect exciting future
announcements.
We are also making outstanding progress on our strategic
plan. The planning committee has reviewed all of
the excellent input provided by the campus and has
been working on revising the initial draft. We expect
to release a revised document soon that will provide
the blueprint to help us make Western Illinois University
an even more outstanding institution.
There are many other significant initiatives that
are being undertaken. The University is working
with AASCU on the American Democracy project, and
we are also working with the Illinois Campus Compact
on enhancing the culture of volunteerism on our
campus. At the same time, we are continuing to work
on developing a pilot first-year experience for
our students with the Illinois Centennial Honors
College.
I believe that this is an exciting time in the history
of Western Illinois University. In spite of the
difficult budgetary times, we have made great progress
on our key initiatives. Our Cost Guarantee, GradTrac
and other successes have been highly visible statewide,
regionally, and nationally. I am very thankful for
the campuswide support for our initiatives, and
I look forward to working with all of you as we
continue to make progress.
All my best wishes for a great spring semester.
Sincerely,
Al Goldfarb
President
